Law Commons^™

The Passing Of Palsgraf?, Ernest J. Weinrib

Vanderbilt Law Review

According to a well-known story, Cardozo's Palsgraf opinion' was born in his attendance at the discussion of the Restatement (First) of Torts. If the formulations now proposed for the Restatement (Third) of Torts (proposed "Restatement") stand, the Palsgraf case--indeed the whole notion of duty as a viable element of negli- gence analysis-- will effectively be dead. The proposed Restatement suggests that "duty is a non-issue" confined to unusual cases where "special problems of principle or policy... justify the withholding of liability." Duty has then merely a negative significance. It refers not to an element necessary to establish the defendant's liability, …

The Restatement (Third) And The Place Of Duty In Negligence Law, John C.P. Goldberg, Benjamin C. Zipursky

Vanderbilt Law Review

A prima facie case of negligence has four elements: duty, breach, causation, and injury. In plain English, a person suing for negligence alleges that the defendant owed her a duty of reasonable care and injured her by breaching that duty. Every state adheres to the four-element account,' with perhaps two exceptions. That ac- count was prominent in the various editions of Prosser's treatise, and is likewise prominent in Professor Dobbs' successor treatise. Leading casebooks also feature the four-element formula.

Given the widespread adoption of the four-element test, one would have expected to encounter it somewhere in the two drafts of …

The Theory Of Tort Doctrine And The Restatement (Third) Of Torts, Keith N. Hylton

Vanderbilt Law Review

Though at times a source of controversy, the American Law Institute performs an enormous public service through its Restatement projects. One of the initial hurdles any such project confronts is whether it should aim to clarify and illuminate the law, or to push the law in a certain direction. I think the Restatement project is most productive when it aims to clarify and illuminate rather than guide or control the development of legal doctrine. Efforts to guide and control risk producing questionable interpretations of the aw, undermining the value of the Restatement in the long run. Fortunately, the Restatement of …

Once More Into The Bramble Bush: Duty, Causal Contribution, And The Extent Of Legal Responsibility, Richard W. Wright

Vanderbilt Law Review

Few issues in tort law are more in need of clarification than those encompassed by the concepts of legal cause and duty, which are not only the subject of "opaque, confused and contradictory" treatments in the American Law Institute's Restatement of the Law of Torts,' relied upon by many American courts, but also the subject of even more opaque and confused treatment in many foreign jurisdictions. The focus of this conference is on tort law in the United States, and my assigned task is to comment on the issues encompassed by the concept of legal cause, especially as they are …

The Duty Concept In Negligence Law: A Comment, Robert L. Rabin

Vanderbilt Law Review

As critics John Goldberg and Benjamin Zipursky see it, the draft version of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: General Principles (Discussion Draft) ("Discussion Draft") that is the occasion for this Symposium has relegated the duty issue in negligence law to a relatively minor, nay-saying role. More particularly, duty is not directly mentioned by the Reporter in Section 3, which provides that "[a]n actor is subject to liability for negligent conduct that is a legal cause of physical harm.' And in Section 6, when the Reporter does get around to addressing the subject of duty, it is in arguably backhanded, no-duty …

The Ethical Foundation For The Pragmatic Conception Of Justice, Anton Donoso

Vanderbilt Law Review

Since the death of John Dewey ten years ago, his thought has been the subject of a number of works, some of the most significant of which deal with his philosophy of law and of justice. The question of his conception of justice arises out of his general effort to show that the resolution of moral conflicts between various claimants is possible by the use of the scientific method, by which is meant intelligent examination justified by reliable public test through reference to consequences. This entails the formulation of a norm of justice that is both valid (true) and morally …

Torts -- 1961 Tennessee Survey (Ii), John W. Wade

Vanderbilt Law Review

The twenty tort cases decided during the shorter survey period this year all involved negligence actions.' Most of the cases involved the application of established rules or standards to new fact situations, some of them being fairly routine. Only two cases were of striking significance.

I Am Not My Guest's Keeper, Warren A. Seavey

Vanderbilt Law Review

The laisez-faire policy of the common law recently won a resounding victory in Pennsylvania. In an action for the death of her husband, the plaintiff alleged that he was invited by the defendant to visit the latter's land for a consultation upon problems common to their work, strip-mining for coal, which requires deep cuts in the land from which it is necessary to remove accumulated water; that during the conversation the defendant invited the deceased to aid in the repair of a pump in one of the water-filled cuts; that the defendant, by "urging, enticing, taunting and inveigling" his visitor, …

Liability Of An Insurance Agent Or Broker In Procuring Or Maintaining Insurance For An Owner, Jack D. Mcneil

Vanderbilt Law Review

The insurance agent or broker is vulnerable to legal attack on several grounds and may incur liability on a variety of theories ranging from breach of implied warranty to fraudulent misrepresentation. The basic fact situation here discussed arises when one desires insurance and the agent sought for the purpose of procuring that insurance fails to do so through a lack of reasonable care. The nature and origin of the duty owed by such an agent or broker, the various instances in which liability arises, the measure and amount of damages collectible, and the defenses available to the agent are discussed.

Torts -- 1957 Tennessee Survey, John W. Wade

Vanderbilt Law Review

One who performs an act is ordinarily under a duty to act carefully.When the defendant has acted there is seldom a problem regarding the duty to use care. But when the defendant has failed to act the question of duty raises a substantial problem.' The rule is stated that there is no duty to act, but the exceptions are many. One arises when there is a particular relationship between the parties; another, when the defendant had commenced to act. Both exceptions are involved in Union Carbide & Carbon Corp. v. Stapleton.